Grant Holloway Breaks 60-Meter Hurdle World Record To Cap Greatest 60 Hurdle Season Ever

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American Grant Holloway broke Colin Jackson’s men’s 60-meter hurdle world record of 7.30, which had stood since 1994, by running 7.29 at the Villa de Madrid World Athletics track and field meeting tonight.

In the prelims tonight, Holloway crossed the finish line with an unofficial 7.34 showing on the scoreboard but it was adjusted down to 7.32 — equal to Holloway’s American record set in Lievin two weeks ago. In the final, another timing adjustment meant the 23-year old Holloway had to wait a few minutes after the race was over to be confirmed as the world record holder. When he initially crossed the line, the clock stopped at 7.32 but it was adjusted down to 7.29, at which point Holloway was handed a world record board and began to celebrate.

Watch Holloway’s race here:

Obviously, any time you break a world record, you’re making history, but Holloway’s 2021 campaign as a whole has been historic and easily the greatest 60-meter hurdles season the world has ever seen. Holloway competed in five meets this year. He won all five prelims and all five finals, and his times were remarkable. He tied his own American record of 7.35 in his season opener in Fayetteville on January 24. He broke that AR in his next meet, running 7.32 in Lievin on February 9. After wins in Val-de-Reuil and Torun, he tied his AR again in the prelims today with his 7.32 before finally taking down the WR in his final race of the year.

His top times this year, and where they rank on the all-time list:

7.29 (#1 all-time)
7.32 (T-#3)
7.32 (T-#3)
7.35 (T-#7)
7.38 (T-#18)
7.38 (T-#18)
7.38 (T-#18)

So he ran the world record and now owns three of the four fastest times ever — all from this year. We’ve never seen a season like this before in the 60m hurdles.

This statistic sounds made up, but it’s true. Grant Holloway has run 41 races in the 60-meter hurdles over the senior hurdle height of 42 inches (21 prelims, 20 finals). He has won all 41.

That streak dates back to his first race as a University of Florida freshman in January 2017 (Holloway did lose a race in the 60 hurdles in high school — as a sophomore, he was second at New Balance Indoor Nationals, though that was over 39-inch barriers).

That’s simply remarkable. In the 60m hurdles, there is almost zero margin for error. Make a big mistake and you don’t have time to recover. The consistency required to win in the hurdles, time after time, is incredible.

When you think of hurdle streaks, naturally you think of Edwin Moses and his 122 straight wins in the 400 hurdles (107 straight finals). That streak lasted almost 10 years, from 1977-1987. Could Holloway one day eclipse it?

Holloway has run 41 races in the 60 hurdles over the last five years, for an average of just over eight races per year. So he’d have to keep racing (and winning) at his current rate for the next 10 years in order to eclipse Moses’ record.

Holloway is still only 23 years old, so it’s not totally out of the question. But the fact that the indoor season is much shorter than the outdoor season is a big…pardon the pun…hurdle. For Moses to go undefeated for 10 straight years was absurd. For Holloway to do it for 15 would defy description.

Holloway has accomplished quite a lot in his career and he’s just getting started as a professional.

As a collegian at Florida from 2017-2019, Holloway was a perfect six-for-six in NCAA hurdling championships as he won three indoor and three outdoor hurdle titles. Add in a flat 60m title as well as a 4 x 100 title and it was quite a career, as along the way he also set NCAA indoor (7.35 — also an American record) and outdoor (12.98) hurdle records, with his outdoor record being the only sub-13 in NCAA history.

Talk about Holloway’s record run on our messageboard.

WHO IS “Grant Holloway”

Grant Holloway (born November 19, 1997) is an American hurdler and sprinter. He is the reigning (2019) world champion in the 110 meters hurdles and is the current world record holder in the indoor 60 m hurdles, with a time of 7.29 seconds which he set in early 2021. He won three straight indoor and outdoor National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships in the 60 m hurdles and 110 m hurdles from 2017 to 2019, and is the current NCAA record holder in both events in addition to the 4 × 100 m relay.

He was one of the most versatile athletes in the NCAA, setting personal bests of 6.50 s in the 60 m dash, 12.98 s in the 110 m hurdles, 8.17 m in the long jump, and a 43.75 s split in the 4 × 400 m relay while competing for the Florida Gators. He holds the NCAA and American record in the 60 m hurdles with a time of 7.35 s, set at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in 2019. The time of 7.35 s in the 60 m hurdles also makes him the third fastest man in the event in history. His NCAA record of 12.98 s in the 110 m hurdles, set at the 2019 championships, broke a 40-year-old record held by former world record holder Renaldo Nehemiah. He was a member of the championship and record breaking 4 × 100 m relay team at the 2019 championships, which clocked the first sub-38 relay in NCAA history with a time of 37.97 s.

Prior to setting the NCAA and American record in the 60 m hurdles, in February 2018 he set the NCAA record with a 7.42 s clocking at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational, beating and taking the record away from Olympic champion in the 110 m hurdles Omar McLeod. Later that year he clocked 13.15 s in the 110 m hurdles at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships, winning the meet in the second fastest time in NCAA history. This became the third fastest time a year later at the same meet when Holloway ran 13.07 s, just 0.07 s slower than Renaldo Nehemiah’s NCAA record.

Holloway was NCAA champion in both the 60 m hurdles and the 110 m hurdles from 2017 to 2019, champion in both the 60 m dash and 60 m hurdles in 2019, and had multiple podium finishes in the long jump, 4 × 100 m relay, and 4 × 400 m relay in the same years. His performances were critical in helping the Florida Gators win the team titles at the 2017 NCAA Division I Championships, the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships, and the 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships. He was one of three finalists for The Bowerman award in 2018 and was the fan favorite.

Grant Holloway
USATF day 3 2018 (29103279228).jpg
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Grant Holloway at the 2018 USA Championships
Personal information
Nationality American
Born November 19, 1997 (age 23)
Chesapeake, Virginia, USA
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg)
Sport
Country United States
Sport Track and field
Event(s) Hurdles, sprints and long jump
College team Florida Gators (2017-2019)
Team adidas
Turned pro 2019
Coached by Mike Holloway
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • 60 m: 6.50 s (2019)
  • 60 m hurdles: 7.29 s WR (2021)
  • 110 m hurdles: 12.98 s (2019)
  • Long jump: 8.17 m (2018)
  • 400 m (relay split): 43.75 s (2019)
Medal record
Men’s track and field
Representing the
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United States
World Championships
Gold medal – first place
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2019 Doha 110 m hurdles
World Indoor Tour
Winner 2021 60 m hurdles